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At least 31 killed in north India rail accident


    LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - At least 31 people were killed in northern India when a train rammed into a bus driving over a railway crossing, officials said on Thursday.

    The pre-dawn accident occurred in Uttar Pradesh state, senior government official Selva Kumari J. told reporters. Local media said the bus was carrying 80 passengers who were returning from a wedding.

    The railway crossing did not have a gate or an attendant, she said, typical of several such crossings in India.

    State-run monopoly Indian Railways carries around 30 million people every day, but has a patchy safety record as a result of ageing infrastructure.

    Latest government data showed that 336 people were killed and 437 injured between April 2010 and mid-January 2011.

    (Reporting by Alka Pande; Writing by C.J. Kuncheria; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)